All posts by Chris Withers

Articles, Hockey

Whitecaps Cough Up The Cup

The soccer gods, as they often like to do during the Voyageurs Cup tournament, were having a laugh yesterday. One of them devised the following scenario:

First, make the busiest part of the Whitecaps schedule coincide with two different Cup competitions, ensuring they either have to rotate the squad (which isn’t all that deep) or play tired. Second, have Toronto FC lose over a quarter of their league games consecutively to start the year, ensuring they are out of playoff contention and have nothing else to play for. Third, have Toronto somehow squeak past Montreal to get into the finals to face Vancouver. Fourth, have the Whitecaps play uninspired soccer. OK, number four definitely wasn’t the soccer gods’ fault, but the result, a 2-1 aggregate loss to Toronto, will still seem unfair to Vancouver soccer fans. This was to be our year, and it all went wrong.

After putting in a largely uninspired second leg in the Canadian championship, Eric Hassli & the Whitecaps probably should have been forced to endure the long walk of shame back to Vancouver instead of a comfy cross-country flight.

Continue reading Whitecaps Cough Up The Cup →

Articles, Hockey

A Voyageurs Cup Primer

Are you still upset about the Vancouver Canucks early exit from the Stanley Cup playoffs? Do you like sporting events? How about teams from Vancouver?? Then you, good reader, are in luck, for that playoff-sized hole in your heart is about to be filled with MORE PLAYOFFS! Tonight, the Vancouver Whitecaps will hope to steal some of the Canucks’ audience as they begin their Canadian Championship campaign against FC Edmonton. Continue reading A Voyageurs Cup Primer →

Articles, Hockey

It’s time to Harperize the NHL

Marian Hossa was severely concussed by a late hit by Phoenix Coyote forward Raffi Torres. Torres received a 25-game suspension. This image was gratuitously stolen from the interweb.

The NHL’s justice system is broken. It’s gotten so bad that a lengthy suspension to a career predator who may have ended the season of a superstar is seen as laughable because of the suspensions that have gone before (or in the case of Shea Weber, the ones that have not gone before). Despite much acclaim early in the season, Brendan Shanahan has now clearly shown that, when the games really matter, he’s no better at meting out punishment than his predecessor, Colin “My Son Plays for the Bruins So I Won’t Suspend Bruins and Miraculously They Just Won the Cup How About That” Campbell. If the NHL wants to regain any measure of credibility it needs to look to (and I’m holding my nose as I type this) the Conservative Party of Canada. It needs to establish clear and consistent rules (not guidelines, rules) for what constitutes a suspension and the length of that suspension. It needs to establish mandatory minimums.

Continue reading It’s time to Harperize the NHL →

Articles, Hockey

Pucked in the Head Playoff Predictions

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Finally. After 301 days, 1230 games and eleventy billion unfunny Vancouver riot jokes, Wednesday will bring the return of NHL playoff hockey. Having learned absolutely nothing from the annual debacle of our regular season predictions — Leafs sneaking in, bah. Sabres winning the East, HA! — Pucked in the Head presents 2012 NHL Playoff Predictions… because dammit, that’s what loudmouthed fans with self-published blogs do.

The Canucks host the Kings in round one
Vancouver Canucks Australia came up with some great playoff banners! Check 'em out here.

Continue reading Pucked in the Head Playoff Predictions →

Articles, Hockey

This Year’s 7 Most Double Rainbow Jets Moments

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By Jim Chliboyko

Yeah, the double rainbow is an old meme, but for fans of the Winnipeg Jets this whole season has been like one big double rainbow (full-on, all the way), right from that May 2011 announcement at the Forks that let us know that Winnipeg was back in the hockey business, baby.

Continue reading This Year’s 7 Most Double Rainbow Jets Moments →

Articles, Hockey

Rogers Arena, BC Place and the Canucks’ Culture Conundrum

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On Saturday, I took advantage of a pretty rare opportunity: I got to see Vancouver play Montreal in two different sports on the same day. After an off-season that stretched seemingly forever, the Vancouver Whitecaps finally got to show off their revamped squad against the Montreal Impact at 3pm. Then, at 7pm, the Habs made their only visit of the year to Rogers Arena. I’ve been to my share of Canucks games in the past, and I was at all but one Whitecaps home game last season, but I’ve never been able to so directly compare the atmosphere in the two stadiums.

It couldn’t have worked out better, frankly. The Habs always inspire one of the liveliest affairs (off the ice) you’re likely to see at Rogers Arena, while the home opener in any sport is usually a noisy one. I even got to take in the games from a similar vantage point in each stadium. So how do the two events stack up? Read on to find out. Continue reading Rogers Arena, BC Place and the Canucks’ Culture Conundrum →

Articles, Hockey

I’m not watching the NHL All-Star Game

And neither should you. You probably won’t. After all, interest in this game from the over 8 demographic has been waning for years. Despite recent attempts to jazz things up with a fantasy draft, the NHL All-Star Game remains undoubtedly the least compelling event on the NHL’s calendar. Here are some issues I have with the game, in no particular order: Continue reading I’m not watching the NHL All-Star Game →

Articles, Hockey

18 Nov 2011 – Somebody Approved This: Seattle Sounders 2012 Edition

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In an age of hyper marketing, intense competition and tightly controlled PR, it’s amazing that truly horrible ideas can still make it past the brainstorming stage. Whether it’s the nightmare of design by committee or just a conflagration of mediocre talents pulling the wool over the eyes of out of touch rich CEOs, we occasionally see awful designs rolled out in an underwhelming explosion of anticlimax. Today, we analyze the most recent Major League Soccer obscenity in our continuing series: Somebody Approved This. Continue reading 18 Nov 2011 – Somebody Approved This: Seattle Sounders 2012 Edition →